The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has named Rahman Owokoniran as its South West zonal chairman, formally appointing and swearing in the former Lagos State Commissioner for Housing to lead the party in the region.
The inauguration ceremony was conducted under the authority of the ADC National Chairman, Senator David Mark, and carried out by the party’s Deputy National Chairman, Dr Bamidele Ajadi, who is the highest-ranking national officer of the party in the South West.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by party chieftain, Mr Coker Onita, following the inauguration of Owokoniran’s zonal executive committee, the ADC dismissed claims of internal crisis within the South West chapter of the party, describing them as baseless and misleading.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Alhaji Rahman Akanni Owokoniran was duly inaugurated and sworn in today as the South West zonal chairman of the African Democratic Congress with the full consent, approval, and authority of the National Chairman and national leadership of the party,” the statement said.
The party also rejected reports suggesting that the South West leadership had been disowned by the national body, insisting that such claims were false and deliberately designed to misinform party members and the general public.
According to the ADC, the allegations are part of a coordinated attempt by agents and sympathisers of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to sow division and destabilise the party, particularly in the South West, where it said the ADC continues to gain grassroots support.
Onita further dismissed a publication credited to an “ADC Lagos State Stakeholders Forum,” describing it as the work of a faceless group unknown to the party’s leadership and accusing its members of acting as fifth columnists.
The party emphasised that while it welcomes constructive criticism and internal debate, it will resist infiltration, misinformation, and bad-faith politics aimed at undermining its leadership.
Reaffirming party unity, the ADC said it remains committed to building a credible political alternative for Nigerians, adding that the South West zonal leadership under Rahman Owokoniran as ADC South West zonal chairman is legitimate, recognised, and fully backed by the national leadership.